The pair have accumulated five yellow cards each over the course of the season so far, with both picking up their fifth booking last Saturday night in the Melbourne derby against Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park.

Colosimo and Gerhardt did not travel with the rest of the squad this morning and will be missed against the Phoenix at Westpac Stadium.

The Red and White clash against Ricki Herbert-s side, who are fresh from a moral-boosting 1-1 draw with league leaders Central Coast Mariners, from 7.30pm local time Thursday evening.

However, Heart Head Coach John Aloisi has central defenders David Vrankovic and Steven Gray at his disposal to utilise in the absence of both Colosimo and Gerhardt.

Ironically, Colosimo has already served a one-match suspension this season, when he was sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity against the Phoenix in a 1-1 draw with the New Zealand side in round two.

Colosimo has played every minute of Heart-s matches when available, clocking 946 minutes in 11 games and is Aloisi-s clear first-choice partner for Gerhardt.

Gerhardt is the only other Heart player, alongside Clint Bolton, to have started and finished Heart-s 12 matches so far this season, playing all 1080 minutes of football with the Red and White this season.

The pair are likely to return for the New Year-s Day showdown against Newcastle Jets on 1 January 2013.